James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

When you run your own business, some days are sooooo much better than others.

Most of us business owners seem to spend such an inordinate amount of time putting out spot fires, resolving unforeseen dilemmas and chasing forever imminent deadlines that it’s sometimes hard to remember the reasons we went into business in the first place.

That’s why, when something good and unexpected happens, life’s all the sweeter for it.

Today is one of those ’sweet’ days.

I am pleased to announce two developments that make me smile; firstly, at the ingenuity of a company that epitomises innovation and, secondly, at the growing reputation and influence of our own Anthill (and you, our proverbial tenants).

Development number one… Google ingenuity taps Australia.

Google understands that Australian business owners think differently from their friends over the pond.

We are tech-savvy but cynical. We are ambitious but largely risk averse (sadly). We rely perhaps too heavily on personal connections and because of that we build most our businesses using word-of-mouth as our primary marketing channel.

Whether this is good news or not, it nevertheless places Australian business owners in an unusual position. A unique position, in fact.

We offer the perfect commercial landscape for a ‘road test’. As Frank Sinatra once declared, “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.”

Could this mean that Australia is the new New York?

Either way, Google has developed a new e-learning tool, specifically for the Australian market, called ‘10 Steps to Promote your Business Online’.

And guess what? Anthill readers are getting the chance to road test it before anywhere else!

Development number two… Anthill’s readers are spreadin’ the news.

If Australia is the new New York, I can only assume that Anthill readers must be the new ‘Mad Men’, Madison Avenue’s famous (and infamous) marketing elite, known to ignite a global inferno of jibber-jabber at the drop of a designer cigarette.

Why? Because Anthill readers are erudite, articulate, educated, genuinely curious and driven by the process of creation (and hopefully not immune to flattery).

Seriously, you guys and gals represent Australia’s forward-thinking elite.

As such, we invite you to click here and test this new tool before anyone else.

The really good news is that this new tool was designed to help SMEs wrap their heads around online marketing and get started with a marketing plan, which first and foremost starts with search marketing.

It was developed by Google with an educational aim of helping SMEs understand the online space, whomever they might use to manage their online marketing and wherever they decide to implement their pay-per-click strategy.

By testing this tool, we also hope that you might just learn a thing or two about your business and its online marketing strategy in the process.

If, like ol’ blue eyes, you ‘want to be a part of it’ and shape a new business tool that has been missing in the Australian SME population for years (including the option to provide comments and constructive feedback to Google), click here.

First chance to trial. A new tool from Google for Australian businesses. And the opportunity to reward our loyal readers.

Now that’s what I call a good day in business.

Once you’ve ‘road-tested’ this new online learning tool, you can provide your feedback by completing our three-question survey (click here).

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

Not so long ago, we trialled an experiment in ‘new economy’ journalism that we dubbed Magazine 2.0.

We asked you, our readers, to share your best business tips, through our blog, for publication in Anthill Magazine. The response was so overwhelming, we were forced to turn the proposed column into a series.

Never ones to leave a good idea dormant, we’ve decided to take this experiment not just one step further but to its logical conclusion.

Here’s our audacious goal: We intend to produce the world’s first entirely reader-generated business magazine for publication this December.

We’ll be asking you, our readers, to suggest the people we profile.
We’ll be asking you to nominate the questions we ask.
We’ll be asking you to share your business stories through case studies.
We’ll be asking you to share your expertise through opinion pieces and columns.

We make no promises. We may not pull it off.

But we’re going to do our darnedest to do as we do best - turn conventional business practices on their head.

Of course, there’ll be some rules (and we might have to make up some extra rules as we go along).

1. If you’d like to be involved, click here and fill out our form. That way, we’ll know who to contact, how to contact you and, best of all, how to attribute your contribution(s).
2. Of course, we’ll be deeming your participation in this exercise as consent for us to use your comments for publication, permission for us to sub-edit and as a demonstration that you have agreed to our standard Terms & Conditions.
3. We’ll be conducting this exercise in a dedicated blog channel. Today, you’re reading our Editors’ Blog. To read the latest information on this experiment, visit our new Magazine 2.0 Blog.

Our promise is that we’ll try to keep up our end of the bargain as best we can, without compromising the quality of Anthill Magazine (or getting sued).

So… are you in?

If so, click here and register and/or make a suggestion below.

Is there anyone that you would like Anthill’s collective readership to interview? Is there a burning question you would like to ask Australia’s entrepreneurial elite? Is there a topic that you think constitutes essential business reading? Whatever your idea (serious, humorous, just plain kooky), leave your comment below (but don’t forget to register).